Monday, July 19, 2010

Carving Completed!

Mandarin - Sheng Dan Kuai Le, Xing Nian Kuai Le


Hooray. I have been looking forward to this day for 23 weeks. The carving process is over and my transformation from cypress knee to Father Christmas is complete. It has been time consuming but for Tom, it has been a labor of love. The addition of color is the next thing that will happen. I don’t know what colors I will wear, but I trust Diane’s judgment. Keep in touch.

Nicholas

Tom says he like to work with different types of wood, so here’s a fact about holly.

Holly was the sacred plant of Saturn and was used at the Roman Saturnalia festival to honor him. Romans gave one another holly wreaths and carried them about decorating images of Saturn with it. Centuries later, in December, while other Romans continued their pagan worship, Christians celebrated the birth of Jesus. To avoid persecution, they decked their homes with Saturnalia holly. As Christian numbers increased and their customs prevailed, holly lost its pagan association and became a symbol of Christmas.





And there will be a new generation of carvers:

2 comments:

  1. Oh, Nicholas....I am upset to think that soon we won't hear from you any longer. You are looking SO wonderful, though...and it has been a joy to watch you grow into such a beautiful creation!

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  2. It is wonderful to see the creation compled and it was so nice watching the process.
    Micki

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